Cambodia's new king returns from China

Cambodia’s newly-selected king, Norodom Sihamoni, returned from China today to take up the throne after his father, outgoing monarch Norodom Sihanouk, abdicated earlier this month because of poor health.

Little-known Prince Norodom Sihamoni arrived with his ailing father from Beijing, where Sihanouk, 81, has spent most of the past nine months receiving medical treatment and staying in self-imposed exile to protest bickering among his country’s political leaders.

A coronation ceremony for Sihamoni is scheduled for October 29.

Thousands of uniformed school children waving paper flags lined a road from the airport to the Royal Palace in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, to greet the new king, who was also accompanied by his mother, Queen Monineath.